Sometimes I have these abstract ideas and then lose track of myself.
So I am happy to have fans, especially if it enables me to keep working. And I am really grateful when people respond to my work.
Yoga has stopped me from destroying my joints after running. It slows me down. My brain and body can go into overdrive – yoga teaches me to focus on the moment and not get ahead of myself.
It’s actually really great to be a student and an actor, because I get to do this job that I love, then just when I think my head might explode, I get to go to school where they don’t really care about what magazine cover I’m on.
I always feel like a goofy little kid.
I think that ultimately I just have to be myself. You know, I don’t do anything that outlandish anyway.
Fundamentally women and men are different.
I took the role of Ophelia in Hamlet because she is so naive, loving, and innocent.
It’s fun to stay at the Y! M! C! A!
I worked regularly from very early on, and some of it was probably a bit premature.
I used to struggle a lot with dwelling on how the day at work was, and I would dwell on my performance. Now, I’m like, “Well, that’s over and done with, and I can’t control the outcome, so move on.” I just remember that it’s entertainment I am making.
Even after such milestones as Kathryn Bigelow winning an Oscar, there still seem to be few women in leadership roles.
I pretty much grew up in public.
I know it sounds earnest, but I do really feel in my bones that acting is just a small part of the equation when you are making a movie. The director really is in charge. Actors are as important or unimportant as the rest of the people around them.
I’m going to Columbia University but I’m trying to keep that low-profile because I don’t want weird people following me there. I want the experience of normal college life.
I wear everything from hip-hop baggy pants to beautiful Armani dresses. I also like to mix vintage clothing with designer pieces.
Of course my family and friends are incredibly valuable to me. They keep me sane, they teach me things and I love spending time with them. I think that ranking what you value is a sort of western and linear way of looking at things.
I always loved how people like Jon Voight and Laurence Olivier shocked you every time they came on-screen. They were so different each time. That’s what I hope to do with acting – be the chameleon and not get stuck in a type.
I really like Shakespeare a lot. The characters that he writes for females, I think, are really great and a lot more compelling than what modern writers write, which is weird because they didn’t have actresses then.
There are a handful of actors who sustain interest because it’s exciting to watch them get better at what they do. I want to be one of those actors.